Emergency department overcrowding and long wait times: taking a corporate approach to improving patient flow

Glen Bandiera, Karen Gaunt, Douglas Sinclair, Anne Trafford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding and long wait times are major concerns in health systems the world over. Many ED-focused innovations--such as revising staff mix, improving internal processes and exploiting decision-support software--have been implemented to address these complex problems, often with limited success. Beginning in 2008, St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, which had some of the most challenging ED overcrowding and longest wait times in Ontario, has charted a different course. By taking an organization-wide corporate approach to the challenge of patient flow throughout the hospital, St. Michael's has significantly improved key ED flow metrics for both its admitted and non-admitted patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)34-40
Number of pages7
JournalHealthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Medicine

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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